Portable Device with Configurable Distributed Antenna Array

ABSTRACT

A portable device for wireless communication is disclosed. The portable device comprises an antenna array having N array elements distributed on and conforming to the surfaces of the portable device, N being an integer greater than 1. The N array elements output N signals to a frontend unit. The frontend unit receives the N signals and generates N digital signals. A digital beam forming network, coupled to the frontend unit, processes M digital signals selected from the N digital signals, M being an integer less than or equal to N, and generates K beams based on the M digital signals, K being an integer greater than 1. A controlling unit, coupled to the digital beam forming network, computes dynamically a beam weight vector for each of the K beams based on data on orientation and position of the portable device and data on geometry of the antenna array and hub directions. A position information unit, coupled to the controlling unit, generates the data on position and orientation of the portable device. A memory, coupled to the controlling unit, stores the data on geometry of the antenna array and hub directions.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 13/236,418, entitled “Re-Configurable Array from Distributed Apertures on Portable Devices”, filed on Sep. 19, 2011, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/384,811 filed on Sep. 19, 2010.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to RF subsystems for mobile and portable devices such as portable Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, 3G and 4G personal handheld devices and tablets, and portable WiFi and WiMax devices. GPS receivers are a part of GNSS receivers. More specifically, the present invention relates to unique approaches of distributed transmission/reception apertures that address two key concerns of RF antennas for portable and mobile devices: (1) fitting antennas into the limited space of a handheld device, while (2) maintaining the integrity of broad angular coverage. The same concepts can be extended for the hubs in microcells or those of Wifi and WiMax. Some potential advantages of the present invention include improved flexibility and utility efficiency of existing frequency assets.

2. Description of Related Art

Terrestrial wireless communication demands have experienced a massive increase in the last few decades due to the advent of WiFi, WiMax, 3G/4G networks, primarily due to the proliferation of portable hand-held devices that utilize such wireless communications technologies, such as 3G/4G cellular phones, tablet computers, portable music players, etc. This substantial increase in use of these devices has also resulted in a proliferation of IP-based products using ever-increasingly fast fiber optics and satellites for back-bone or transport applications. On the other hand, these high-speed access communications avenues to handheld devices are typically being emanated from ever-increasingly small wireless antennas. These small wireless antennas are required to radiate and receive in broad beams with near omni-directional capabilities, while maintaining suitable gain levels and power efficiencies despite receiving constant reductions in physical size. Therefore, effective spectrum utilization becomes more and more important due to the expeditious increase in demand for wireless “access” communications.

Currently, there are two key issues associated with these commercial wireless portable devices. Firstly, as the market for 3G and 4G portables continues to expand, demands for higher data rate channels continues to expand as well. With mobile frequency spectra becoming increasingly crowded, bandwidth becomes insufficient to satisfy current demand. Secondly, as a user holding a wireless hand-held device, its radiation/reception patterns or characteristics may change significantly due to interaction of the device and the user, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Presently, the majority of these wireless communications devices also have a navigational aids baked into the devices as well. It is therefore also desirable to explore antenna geometries that relate to Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Specifically, it is desirable to explore antenna geometries that provide nearly full hemispherical coverage, in lieu of omni-directional antennas for data communications purposes. Key parameters of the 4 principle systems are listed in Table 1.

The United States NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS) is currently the only fully operational GNSS. The Russian GLONASS is a GNSS in the process of being restored to full operation (it is practically restored, with 21 of 24 satellites operational by April 2010). On the other hand, the European Union's Galileo positioning system is a next generation GNSS in the initial deployment phase, with the In-Orbit-Validation (10V) phase taking place in 2010. Full Orbit Constellation (FOC) should be reached in 2015 (but this schedule is very flexible). China is also building up a global system called COMPASS, referred to as Beidou-2. Beidou-1 is a regional augmentation system.

TABLE 1 Key orbital parameters of the 4 GNSS systems. GPS GLONASS GALILEO COMPASS Number of 21 + 3 21 + 3 27 + 3 30 + Satellites 5 GEO Number of 6 3 3 ? orbital planes Semi-major axis 26600 km 25440 km 29600 km ? 21500 km Orbital revolution 11:58 H 11:15 H 14:07 H ? 12:35 H period Inclination 55 deg 64 deg 56 deg ? 55 deg Satellite Mass 1100 kg 1400 kg 700 kg ? 2200 kg (IIR) Solar panel area 14 m2 23 m2 13 m2 ???

This invention therefore intends to solve both issues in economical and efficient ways. The distributed apertures may be configured to achieve broad beam width with a specified user holding the device. The distributed apertures may also be re-configured to form multiple orthogonal beams in order to enhance throughput for the portable devices. In particular, the applications of multiple small elements to “synthesize” radiation and receiving directional patterns dynamically for terrestrial wireless communications offer many potential advantages, including improved flexibility and utility efficiency of existing frequency assets.

Due to the technological advances concerning GPS/inertial navigation systems, low cost, mass-production hand-held GPS systems have become commonplace, such as those that use commercial off-the-shelf Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) accelerometers and gyroscopes. It has become very practical to estimate the “orientations” and motion trends of individual personal portable devices with respect to a fixed coordination system. The MEMS inertial measurement unit (IMU) is packaged in a small size and provides the raw IMU data through a serial interface to a processor board where the inertial navigation solution and integrated GPS/inertial Kalman filter is generated. Thus, spatial diversity for better spectrum utility can be implemented by low-cost and reliable processing techniques for consumer wireless communications markets such as receiving handheld devices for navigation, 3G and 4G mobile devices, as well as WiFi and WiMax devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention utilizes multiple low gain elements conformal to the mechanical contours of handheld devices in order to function as arrays. The distributed N element arrays dynamically provide options for: 1) reconfigurable shaped beams with near hemispheric radiations patterns for various handheld orientations and conditions by various users, and 2) multiple orthogonal beams concurrent connecting to multiple hubs. The larger the N number becomes, the more flexibility the residing devices can provide. However, implementation cost also rises with the number of elements. Therefore, an efficient and practical solution is for an N number between 4 and 10.

Aperture Size and Orientations

Shaped beam antennas have been used extensively on commercial satellites. As early as the 1970s, simple beam shaping with 4 to 5 feed array feeds were used for minimum gain (˜18 dB) over a global coverage (±9°) from a geostationary orbital slot. It became commonplace to use multiple feeds on the focal plane of a parabolic reflector to shape RF beams for good contour coverage of a service area. The 1980s brought about extensive use of shaped reflectors with single feeds covering desired service areas for commercial satellites. Both of these implementations are for fixed beam shaping capabilities on satellites.

However, since the 1990s, fixed and reconfigurable shaped contour beams deployed for mobile applications have been used via large parabolic reflectors with defocused feeds on satellites [2]. The element patterns, or secondary patterns, of those defocused feeds exhibited similar features of those of direct radiating arrays on curved surfaces. One of the features of both types of antennas is the extended coverage, which is the union of fields-of-view (FOV) of individual elements. We will use these features for the design of near-hemispheric coverage for handheld devices.

One of the goals of the present invention is to minimize aperture size, enabling array elements with large FOVs to see many GNSS satellites or many available hubs simultaneously. However, with distributed apertures using various element orientations, not every array element will view all GNSS satellites in the sky or all the available hubs simultaneously due to blockage of the element apertures themselves. This is an issue for non-planar arrays, as each element provides additional gain over various FOV through the beam forming process. Consequently, as the GNSS satellites and/or user platform move, some of the elements may be blocked with additional elements becoming available. In our inventions, there shall be enough elements with proper orientations to provide a near hemispherical coverage.

One of the design constraints is the ability to cover multiple discrete frequency bands. For WiFi the elements must cover both 2.4 and 5 GHz band. For communicating in the cellular spectrum, the elements must cover intended band width at UHF and L/S bands. For GPS, two frequency bands of interest are at (1) 1164 MHz to 1300 MHz (136 MHz) and (2) 1559 MHz to 1611 MHz (52 MHz).

However, the key challenge is how to position (including orientations) a set of small broadband elements to form a beam with a near hemispherical coverage while taking into account all mutual coupling effects among the small elements as well as those of the handsets.

Optimization on Element Positions

With a distributed array antenna, not all array elements can simultaneously view all GNSS satellites available or terrestrial hubs due to blockage of the element apertures. Translational reposition of an element generates biased phase-shifting among signals coming from different directions within its FOV. Quantitatively, phase shifting for those signals coming from a direction θ can be expressed as

Δφ(in radians)=k*Δd*cos θ,  (1)

where k is the wave number, Δd is the translational reposition distance, and θ is the arriving signal direction with respect to the translational moving direction of the element. For incoming directions in parallel to the translational moving direction, or θ=0°, the element reposition will have profound effects on the phase of the received signals. Quantitatively, the equivalent phase shifting for those signals is

Δφ(in radians)=k*Δd,  (1a)

where k is the wave number and Δd is the translational reposition distance.

On the other hand, incoming signals from a direction perpendicular to the translational moving direction, or θ=90°, the element reposition will have no effects on the phases of the received signals. Quantitatively, the equivalent phases shifting for those signals are

Δφ(in radians)=0,  (1b)

Multi-band low profile antennas using multilayer patch configurations have been successfully developed for consumer products. One such a product is manufactured over four bands at 1.268 GHz (RHCP, RCV), GPS (RHCP, RCV), 1.616 GHz (LHCP, XMIT) and 2.491 GHz (RHCP, RCV) for GNSS applications. For a N-element distributed array, radiation patterns are designed and generated through an iterative process based on desired performance constraints and the array geometry by varying the element weighting on their amplitudes and phases. The weighting, referred to as beam weight vectors (BWV), are implemented in a digital beam forming network (DBFN).

For production of large quantity of handheld devices, it is very cost effective to implement the 4-to-1 Rcv BFNs digitally with two options (a) L-band in and L-band out, or (2) L-band in and baseband out.

Because of the large bandwidth, we propose using the low dynamic range high speed approach for digitization with a sampling rate near 1 Gsps and a 1 bit resolution. Processed signals will regain their signal integrity in the digital domain by presuming, demuxing, band pass filtering, and then beam forming. While there are three branches of parallel processing as shown over three subbands, it is possible to do all processing in a single stream processing. The digital BFNs may be programmable. Rx antenna patterns of handheld devices may also be reconfigurable, or adaptable. The entire circuit can be implemented in a Si chip with a “loadable” mechanism via external programming to support optimized BWVs. However, this approach requires high initial investment to reach low-cost production.

A beam weight vector (BWV) for an array with distributed apertures featuring various N elements in different orientations will be optimized for a shaped beam with desired coverage. There are N-complexed components in a BWV, one complex component per element corresponding to amplitude and phase weighting of the signal.

Uniqueness of Invention

The invention features antennas with distributed low gain elements and a beam forming network (BFN) for handheld devices to provide reliable links between GNSS satellites and users for the navigations applications, or between available wireless hubs and users for the communications applications. A portable devices may have different array elements and configurable beam forming networks for navigations and communications individually. The near hemispheric shaped beam antenna arrays provide good RF field-of views for navigation/communications signals to and from the devices, but they have limited capabilities on isolations and directional discriminations.

Both the multiple beam design and the near omni coverage design approaches for a portable device include:

-   -   (1) locating the positions and orientation of the device     -   (2) identifying available space in handheld devices for         distributed N small elements in different orientations with         various radiation patterns,     -   (3) identifying desired radiation patterns and M key performance         constraints according to current device orientations, and         elements that are not “blocked” by holding hands,     -   (4) performing radiation pattern simulations on the selected         antenna array geometries with assumed element amplitude and         phase weighting in a beam forming network with N_(o) inputs and         1 or multiple outputs, where N_(o)≦N,     -   (5) iteratively optimizing the weighting in the beam forming         network to meet radiation patterns constraints,     -   (6) reducing N and optimizing the element positions and         orientation, and then go back to (4) until N is no more than         N_(o). Otherwise, relax the constraints in (3) and then go         to (3) through (5).

Both the multi-beam including orthogonal beams (OB) and the near omni coverage optimization operation for a selected portable device include:

-   -   (1) locating the positions and orientation of the device     -   (2) identifying available space in handheld devices for         distributed N small elements in different orientations with         various radiation patterns,     -   (3) identifying desired radiation patterns and M key performance         constraints according to current device orientations, and         elements that are not “blocked” by holding hands,     -   (4) performing radiation pattern simulations on the selected         antenna array geometries with assumed element amplitude and         phase weighting in a beam forming network with N_(o) inputs and         1 or multiple outputs, where N_(o)≦N,     -   (5) iteratively optimizing the weighting in the beam forming         network to meet key performance constraints,

The radiation patterns of a handheld device are highly affected by RF interactions between the device and a user's hand which holds the device. It is desirable that the selected apertures are located at wherever less sensitive to the interactions with a user body. It is also possible that the selected apertures are re-configurable (or adaptive) depending on how and/or by whom the device is held. The design concepts are a fixed BFN with a set of fixed apertures. They can be extended to include “reconfigurable” apertures.

REFERENCES

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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts relative ground observable time of a GPS satellite orbiting through local zenith.

FIG. 2 illustrates the FOVs of array elements for those of a planar array on the left panel and those of a non-planar array on the right panel.

FIG. 3A illustrates various options of elements with linear edges for handheld devices,

FIG. 3B illustrates various options of elements with linear edges for laptop devices,

FIG. 4A illustrates a 8-to-2 configurable Rx beam forming network featuring digital beam forming (DBF) network for portable handheld and laptop devices.

FIG. 4B illustrates a 8-to-2 configurable Rx beam forming network featuring a low loss 8-to-4 switch box before low-noise-blocks (LNB's) and a 4-to-2 digital beam forming (DBF) network for portable handheld and laptop devices.

FIG. 4C illustrates a 8-to-2 configurable Rx beam forming network featuring a 8-to-4 switch box after low-noise-amplifiers (LNA's) and a 4-to-2 digital beam forming (DBF) network for portable handheld and laptop devices.

FIG. 4D illustrates a 8-to-2 configurable Rx beam forming network featuring a wavefront (WF)multiplexing (muxing) device after low-noise-amplifiers (LNA's) and a digital WF de-muxing device and a 4-to-2 digital beam forming (DBF) network for portable handheld and laptop devices.

FIG. 4E illustrates a 8-to-2 configurable Rx beam forming network featuring a wavefront (WF)multiplexing (muxing) device before low-noise-blocks (LNB's) and a digital WF de-muxing device and a 4-to-2 digital beam forming (DBF) network for portable handheld and laptop devices.

FIG. 4F illustrates a 8-to-2 configurable Rx beam forming network featuring two wavefront (WF)multiplexing (muxing) devices before low-noise-blocks (LNB's) and two digital WF de-muxing devices and a 4-to-2 Rx digital beam forming (DBF) network for portable handheld and laptop devices.

FIG. 4G illustrates a 2-to-8 configurable Tx beam forming network featuring a 2-to-4 Tx digital beam forming (DBF) network and a 4-to-8 RF switching unit after block up-converters (BUCs) for portable handheld and laptop devices.

FIG. 4H illustrates a 2-to-8 configurable Tx beam forming network featuring a 2-to-8 Tx digital beam forming (DBF) network and two 4-to-4 digital WF muxers, as well as two corresponding 4-to-RF WF demuxers placed after block up-converters (BUCs) for portable handheld and laptop devices.

FIG. 4I illustrates a 2-to-8 configurable Tx beam forming network featuring a 2-to-8 Tx digital beam forming (DBF) network and an 8-to-8 digital WF muxer, as well as a corresponding RF 8-8 WF demuxer placed after a bank of 8 block up-converters (BUCs) for portable handheld and laptop devices.

FIG. 5A illustrates a multi-element configurable Rx function featuring A/D modules and digital beam forming (DBF) network for portable handheld and laptop devices.

FIG. 5B illustrates a multi-element configurable Tx function featuring D/A and up-converter modules and digital beam forming (DBF) network for portable handheld and laptop devices.

FIGS. 6A and 6B depict simulated results of a configurable distributed array. FIG. 6A illustrates a geometry for a 1.5 GHz distributed array. The four 4 small elements are microstrip dipoles with ground planes oriented in various directions. FIG. 6B illustrates two radiation patterns with two different beam weighting vectors (BWV).

FIG. 7 illustrates an implementation concept of wavefront (WF) multiplexing (muxing) and demultiplexing (demuxing); a signal processing techniques utilizing multiple paths and orthogonal wavefronts among multiplexed independent signals.

FIG. 7A illustrates leakages of de-multiplexed signals from a wavefront (WF) multiplexing (muxing) and demultiplexing (demuxing) implementation; WF muxing/demuxing are signal processing techniques utilizing multiple concurrent paths and orthogonal wavefronts among multiplexed independent signals. When these multiple paths are not equalized, leakages among the multiplexed signals occurs as a result of non-orthogonal WFs.

FIG. 7B illustrates an implementation concept of power amplifier modules utilizing wavefront (WF) multiplexing (muxing) and demultiplexing (demuxing); a signal processing techniques utilizing multiple paths and orthogonal wavefronts among multiplexed independent signals.

FIG. 7C illustrates an implementation concept of A/D modules utilizing wavefront (WF) multiplexing (muxing) and demultiplexing (demuxing); a signal processing techniques utilizing multiple paths and orthogonal wavefronts among multiplexed independent signals.

FIG. 8 illustrates features of orthogonal beams (OB). A set of 5 OBs generated by a portable device is envisioned.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 100 illustrates relative time duration 110 of a GPS satellite orbiting through local zenith as a function of local elevation angle 120. A user has about 40% more time to observe the GPS satellite traveling over low elevations near horizon 111 a than that near the local zenith 111 b. Naystar GPS satellites are deployed in 6 nearly circular orbital planes, with 4 satellites equally spaced within a plane. The orbital planes are at an inclination of 55 degrees. The GPS satellite series coverage means anywhere from 4 to 12 satellites are above an observer's horizon, with satellites being visible for many hours above an observer's horizon.

FIG. 2 200 illustrates the FOVs of array elements for those of planar array 211 on upper panel 210 and those of non-planar array 221 on lower panel 220. Markings 211 on panel 210 depict the side view of the planar array. The array consists of 3 identical elements, indicated by 3 bars. The corresponding FOVs of these elements are illustrated in three circles 214 a, 214 b, 214 c. Vertical axes 212 and horizontal axes 213 depict the elevation and azimuth angles in degrees. These elements are about 0.4λ wide with a 3 dB beamwidth covering about 140° FOV. Panel 210 illustrates that the FOVs of three elements for a planar array are identical and cover the same area. They can be utilized to form beams and steer nulls, with a smaller beamwidth, pointing to any location within the common FOV through proper amplitude and phase weightings. It is also possible to form 3 orthogonal beams, with every individual beam having 2 additional “degrees of freedom” for nulling in relation to the FOV. A set of orthogonal beams utilize a characteristic in that one beam always peaks at a null of the other beams.

Lower panel 220 of FIG. 2 200 shows three identical FOVs that are pointed in various directions associated with the surface normal of the element locations 221. The drawings 221 on the lower left panel depict the side view of the non-planar array. The array consists of 3 identical elements, indicated by 3 black bars. The corresponding FOVs 224 a and 224 b and 224 c of these elements are illustrated in three circles. The vertical axes 222 and the horizontal axes 223 depict the elevation and azimuth angles in degrees. These elements are about 0.4λ wide with a 3 dB beamwidth covering about 140° FOV. Thus, the array antenna coverage area (I+II+III) 224 is enlarged, but the degrees of freedom are reduced. Only a small portion the FOVs from the three elements, indicated by “III”, are overlapped. Areas indicated by “II” are covered by two elements, while most areas are only covered by one element, “I.” The area indicated by “III” will exhibit a full capacity of three degrees of freedom for beam shaping and null steering. Additionally, there will be reduced beam shaping and null steering capacity at regions indicated by “II” and very little beam shaping and null steering capability in the “I” regions.

FIG. 3A 310 illustrates various antenna elements on a handheld device. There are three options 310 a, 310 b and 310 c, each with 9 different element positions and shapes. All options feature one ceramic radiator 311 mounted in the center of the top surface of the handheld devices. Other element 312 candidates include folded dipoles, 2-D L-shaped meandered dipoles, or 3-D short dipoles with L-cross sections. The low profile elements 311 and 312 may be conformal or placed on 1-D curved surfaces including flat areas. The aperture sizes, number of elements, element locations, and element orientations are keys to the performance of a distributed array.

FIG. 3B 320 illustrates various antenna elements on a laptop computer device. There are three options 320 a, 320 b and 320 c, each with 9 different element positions and shapes. All options feature one ceramic radiator mounted 321 in the center of the top surface of the devices. Other element candidates include folded dipoles, 2-D L-shaped meandered dipoles, or 3-D short dipoles with L-cross sections. The low profile elements 321 and 322 may be conformal or placed on 1-D curved surfaces including flat areas. The aperture sizes, number of elements, element locations, and element orientations are keys to the performance of a distributed array.

FIG. 4A 410 illustrate a method of combining 8 individual radiating elements 411 of distributed arrays shown in FIGS. 3A 310 and 3B 320 in receiving mode via a 8-to-2 digital beam forming (DBF) processor 405 to form two individual beams 419. Received signals by an array element 411 is “conditioned” by low noise amplifier (LNA) 412, filtered by a bandpass filter (BPF) (not shown) and frequency down-converted by a down converter (DC) 413, and digitized by an A-to-D converter (A/D) 414 before being sent to the 8-to-2 DBF processor 405, consisting of multiplications 415 a and summations stages 415 b. The multiplicands are digitized received signals and the multipliers are the beam weight vector (BWV) components supplied by the controller and drivers 416. BWVs are calculated by the controllers based the device orientations and positions provided by a unit with MEMS IMU and GNSS receivers 417 or equivalent functions, and information on array geometries and hub locations recorded in local memory units 418. For a 8 element array, the BWVs for different beams will feature 8 complex components. When 4 elements are not selected for a beam, the associated BWV components will be set to zero. The resulting Rx beam effectively is contributed by the 4 remaining (or selected) array elements.

FIG. 4B illustrate a method of selecting 4 out of 8 receiving elements and combining the selected 4 individual radiating elements 411 of distributed arrays shown in FIGS. 3A 310 and 3B 320 in receiving (Rx) mode via a RF 8-to-4 switching box 412 s and a 4-to-2 Rx digital beam forming (DBF) processor 415 to form two individual beams 419. Received signals by an array element 411 are sent to a 8-to-4 switch box 412 s, and the 4 outputs are “conditioned” by a low noise amplifier (LNA) 412, filtered by a band pass-filter (BPF) (not shown) and frequency down-converted by a down converter (DC) 413, and digitized by a A-to-D converter (A/D) 414 before sent to the 4-to-2 Rx DBF processor 415, consisting of multiplications 415 a and summations stages 415 b. The multiplicands are digitized received signals and the multipliers are the beam weight vector (BWV) components supplied by the controller and drivers 416. BWVs are calculated by controllers 416 based on device orientation and positions provided by a unit with MEMS IMU and GNSS receivers 417 or equivalent functions, and information on array geometries and hub locations recorded in local memory units 418. For a 4 element array, the BWVs for different beams will feature 4 complex components. The low insertion loss switch box is placed before the low noise blocks (LNBs), consisting of LNAs 412 and frequency down converters 413. Different selections of array elements for various beams are dynamically carried out in controller 416.

FIG. 4C illustrate a method of selecting 4 out of 8 receiving elements and combining selected individual radiating elements 411 of distributed arrays shown in FIGS. 3A 310 and 3B 320 in receiving (Rx) mode via a RF 8-to-4 switching box 412 s and a 4-to-2 Rx digital beam forming (DBF) processor 415 to form two individual beams 419. Received signals by an array element 411 are “conditioned” by a bank of low noise amplifiers (LNAs) 412, The outputs are connected to a 8-to-4 switch box. Each of the four outputs of the switch box is filtered by a bandpass filter (BPF) (not shown) and frequency down-converted by a down converter (DC) 413, and digitized by an A-to-D converter (A/D) 414 before sent to the 4-to-2 Rx DBF processor 415, consisting of multiplications 415 a and summations stages 415 b. The multiplicands are digitized received signals and the multipliers are the beam weight vector (BWV) components supplied by the controller and drivers 416. BWVs are calculated by controllers 416 based on device orientation and positions provided by the unit with a unit of Micro Electro Mechanical Sensor (MEMS) Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and Global navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receivers 417 or equivalent functions, and information on array geometries and hub locations recorded in local memories 418. For a 4 element array, the BWVs for different beams will feature 4 complex components. The low insertion loss switch box is placed after the low noise amplifiers (LNAs) 412 and before a frequency down converters 413. Different selections of array elements for various beams are dynamically carried out in the controller 416.

FIG. 4D illustrate another method of selecting 4 out of 8 receiving elements and combining the selected 4 individual radiating elements 411 of distributed arrays shown in FIGS. 3A 310 and 3B 320 in receiving (Rx) mode via a RF 8-to-8 wavefront multiplexer (WF Muxer) 412 wfmx, a 8-to 4 digital programmable WF demuxer 412 wfdmx, and a 4-to-2 Rx digital beam forming (DBF) processor 415 to form two individual beams 419. Received signals by array element 411 are “conditioned” by a bank of low noise amplifiers (LNAs) 412. The outputs are connected to a 8-to-8 WF muxer 412 wfmux. Each of the eight outputs of the WF muxer is filtered by a bandpass filter (BPF) (not shown) and frequency down converted by a down converter (DC) 413, and digitized by a A-to-D converter (A/D) 414 before sent to a digital 8-to-4 WF demuxer 412 wfdmx followed by a 4-to-2 Rx DBF processor 415, consisting of multiplications 415 a and summations stages 415 b. The multiplicands are digitized received signals and the multipliers are the beam weight vector (BWV) components supplied by the controller and drivers 416. BWVs are calculated by the controllers 416 based the device orientations and positions provided by a unit with MEMS IMU and GNSS receivers 417 or equivalent functions, and information on array geometries and hub locations recorded in local memory units 418. For a 4 element array, the BWVs for different beams will feature 4 complex components. The low insertion loss WF muxer 412 wfmx is placed after the low noise amplifiers (LNAs) 412 and before frequency down converters 413. Different selections of array elements for various beams are dynamically carried out in the controller 416 by reconfiguring the digital WF demuxer 412 wfdmx.

FIG. 4E illustrate another method of selecting 4 out of 8 receiving elements and combining the selected 4 individual radiating elements 411 of distributed arrays shown in FIGS. 3A 310 and 3B 320 in receiving (Rx) mode via a RF 8-to-8 wavefront multiplexer (WF Muxer) 412 wfmx, a 8-to 4 digital programmable WF demuxer 412 wfdmx, and a 4-to-2 Rx digital beam forming (DBF) processor 415 to form two individual beams 419. Received signals by an array element 411 are connected to a 8-to-8 WF muxer 412 wfmux Each of the eight outputs of the WF muxer are “conditioned” by a LNB consisting of a low noise amplifier (LNA) 412, followed by a band-pass filter (BPF) (not shown) and frequency down-converted by a down converter (DC) 413. The output from an LNB is digitized by a A-to-D converter (ND) 414 before sent to a digital 8-to-4 WF demuxer 412 wfdmx cascaded by a 4-to-2 Rx DBF processor 415; which consisting of multiplications 415 a and summations stages 415 b. The multiplicands are digitized received signals and the multipliers are the beam weight vector (BWV) components supplied by the controller and drivers 416. BWVs are calculated by the controllers 416 based the device orientations and positions provided by a unit with MEMS IMU and GNSS receivers 417 or equivalent functions, and information on array geometries and hub locations recorded in local memory units 418. For a 4 element array, the BWVs for different beams will feature 4 complex components. The low insertion loss WF muxer 412 wfmx is placed before the low noise blocks (LNBs) 412 and 413. Different selections of array elements for various beams are dynamically carried out in the controller 416 by reconfiguring the digital WF demuxer 412 wfdmx.

The configurations between the digital 8-to-8 WF muxers and the associated 8-to-8 WF demuxers consist of banks of A/Ds are identical to those of smart A/D modules patent-filed by SDS [10]. One of the advantages of using the smart A/D modules is to provide flexibility of number of inputs and enhance dynamic range.

FIG. 4F illustrate another method of selecting 4 out of 8 receiving elements and combining the selected 4 individual radiating elements 411 of distributed arrays shown in FIGS. 3A 310 and 3B 320 in receiving (Rx) mode via two RF 4-to-4 wavefront multiplexer (WF Muxer) 4124 wfmx, two 4-to-2 digital programmable WF demuxer 4124 wfdmx, and a 4-to-2 Rx digital beam forming (DBF) processor 415 to form two individual beams 419. Received signals by an array element 411 are connected to one of the two 4-to-4 WF muxers 4124 wfmux. Each of the four outputs of a WF muxer is “conditioned” by a LNB consisting of a low noise amplifier (LNA) 412, followed by a band-pass filter (BPF) (not shown) and frequency down converted by a down converter (DC) 413. The output from an LNB is digitized by a A-to-D converter (A/D) 414 before sent to one of the two digital 4-to-2 WF demuxer 412 wfdmx cascaded by a 4-to-2 Rx DBF processor 415; which consists of multiplications 415 a and summations stages 415 b. The multiplicands are digitized received signals and the multipliers are the beam weight vector (BWV) components supplied by the controller and drivers 416. BWVs are calculated by the controllers 416 based the device orientations and positions provided by a unit of the MEMS IMU and GNSS 417 or equivalent functions, and information on array geometries and hub locations recorded in local memory units 418. For a 4 element array, the BWVs for different beams will feature 4 complex components. The two low insertion loss WF muxers 4124 wfmx are placed before the low noise blocks (LNBs) 412 and 413. Different selections of array elements for various beams are dynamically carried out in the controller 416 by reconfiguring the digital WF demuxer 4124 wfdmx.

FIG. 4G 420 illustrates a method of forming two individual beams 429 in transmitting mode using 4 of 8 available individual radiating elements 411 of distributed arrays shown in FIGS. 3A 310 and 3B 320 via a 2-to-4 Tx digital beam forming (DBF) 425 network and a low loss RF 4-to-8 switch unit 422 s. Signals 429 to be transmitted are processed by the Tx DBF processor 425 in which each beam forming process consisting of replication 425 b and multiplication 425 a stages. The multiplicands are replicated digitized signals to be transmitted and the multipliers are the beam weight vector (BWV) components supplied by the controller and drivers 426. BWVs are calculated by the controllers 426 based the device orientations and positions provided by the unit with MEM IMU and GNSS receivers 427 or equivalent functions, and information on array geometries and hub locations recorded in local memory units 428. The weighted signals for individual elements for the two transmitting beams are summed together in the transmitted DBF 425 before converted to analog formats by digital-to analog (D/A) converters 424. These signals are then frequency up-converted by up-converter (UC) 423 and amplified by power amplifiers 422. The 4 amplified signals are sent to 4 selected elements from the 8 available elements 421. The selection mechanism, controlled by the controller 426, is a low loss RF 4-to-8 switch unit 422 s. The outputs of the switching unit are connected to the 8 individual elements 421. The radiations of 4 amplified signals by the selected elements are combined in the far field.

FIG. 4H illustrates a method of forming two individual beams 429 in transmitting mode using 4 of 8 available individual radiating elements 411 of distributed arrays shown in FIGS. 3A 310 and 3B 320 via a 2-to-8 Tx digital beam forming (DBF) 455 network, two digital WF muxers 4224 wfmx featuring 4-inputs and 4-outputs, and two RF WF demuxers 4224 wfdmx also featuring 4-inputs and 4-outputs. Signals 429 to be transmitted are processed by the Tx 2-to-8 DBF processor 455 in which each beam forming process consists of a replication 425 b and a multiplication 425 a stages. The multiplicands are replicated digitized signals to be transmitted and the multipliers are the beam weight vector (BWV) components supplied by the controller and drivers 416. BWVs are calculated by the controllers 416 based the device orientations and positions provided by a unit with MEMS IMU and GNSS receivers 417 or equivalent functions, and information on array geometries and hub locations recorded in local memories 418. The weighted signals for individual elements for the two transmitting beams are summed together in the transmitted DBF 455 and become the inputs of the digital WF muxers 4224 wfmx. The outputs from the digital WF muxers 4224 wfmx are converted to analog formats by digital-to analog (D/A) converters 424, and. These signals are then frequency up-converted by up-converter (UC) 423, and amplified by power amplifiers 422. Two sets of 4 amplified signals are sent to the inputs of the two 4-to-4 WF demuxers 4224 wfdmx, and their outputs are connected to the 8 available elements 411. The selection mechanism, controlled by the controller and drivers 416, is the BWVs for the DBF 455 network.

The configurations between the WF muxers and the associated two WF demuxers consisting of banks of power amplifiers are identical to those of smart PA modules patent-filed by SDS [10,11]. One of advantages of using the smart PA modules is to provide equal loading to all the PAs. The outputs of the WF demuxers 4224 wfdmx are connected to the 8 individual elements 411. The radiations by the 8 elements 411, amplified by the 2 smart PA modules driven by signals dynamically configured by the 2-to-8 DBF 455, are combined in the far field accordingly.

FIG. 4I illustrates a method of forming two individual beams 429 in transmitting mode using 4 of 8 available individual radiating elements 411 of distributed arrays shown in FIGS. 3A 310 and 3B 320 via a 2-to-8 Tx digital beam forming (DBF) 455 network, an 8-to-digital WF muxers 422 wfmx featuring 8-inputs and 8-outputs, and a 8-to-8 RF WF demuxers 422 wfdmx also featuring 8-inputs and 8-outputs. Signals 429 to be transmitted are processed by the Tx 2-to-8 DBF processor 455 in which each beam forming process consisting of a replication 425 b and a multiplications 425 a stages. The multiplicands are replicated digitized signals to be transmitted and the multipliers are the beam weight vector (BWV) components supplied by the controller and drivers 416.

BWVs are calculated by the controllers 416 based on device orientations and positions provided by a unit of MEMS IMU and GNSS receivers 417 or equivalent functions, and information on array geometries and hub locations recorded in local memory units 418. The weighted signals for individual elements for the two transmitting beams are summed together in the transmitted DBF 455 and become the inputs of the digital WF muxers 4224 wfmx. The 8 outputs are converted to analogue formats by digital-to analogue (D/A) converters 424, then frequency up converted by up-converter (UC) 423, and amplified by power amplifiers 422. The 8 amplified signals are the inputs of the 8-to-8 WF demuxers 422 wfdmx, and their outputs are connected to the 8 available elements 411. The selection mechanism, controlled by the controller and drivers 416, is the BWVs for the DBF 455 network.

The configurations between the digital 8-to-8 WF muxers and the associated 8-to-8 WF demuxers consisting of banks of power amplifiers are identical to those of smart PA modules patent-filed by SDS [10, 11]. One of the advantages of using the smart PA modules is to provide equal loading to all the PAs. The outputs of the WF demuxers 422 wfdmx are connected to the 8 individual elements 411. The radiations by the 8 elements 411, amplified by the 2 smart PA modules driven by signals dynamically configured by the 2-to-8 DBF 455, are combined in the far field accordingly.

FIG. 5A illustrate an alternate cost-effective method of digitizing receiving signals from multiple elements 411 through a single frequency down converter and A/D device 513 before DBF processor 514. The received signals from multiple elements 411 are conditioned first by LNAs 412 and BPFs (not shown). The conditioned received signals delivered to element signal input ports 511 are then combined via an analogue code-division multiplexing processor 512. The corresponding CDM demuxing process is accomplished digitally after A/D in the DBF processor 514 to recover original received signals in base-band. The element selection processing is accomplished in base-band as a part of the DBF processing 514. Some of their beam outputs 515 will be used as diagnostic data for dynamic and autonomous array configuration management.

FIG. 5B illustrate a cost effective alternative method of delivering multiple transmitting beam signals 525 by using multiple beams to select radiating element signal output ports 521. The multi-channel frequency up-conversion and conversion to analog formats from transmitting DBF processor 524 via a single Digital-to-Analog (D/A) device and a signal frequency up-conversion chain 523. The code division multiplexing among transmitting signals for multiple elements are processed digitally in DBF 524, while the CDM demux 522 features RF processing to recover the signals to be transmitted by individual elements 521 in RF after power-amplification (not shown). The element selection processing is accomplished in base-band as a part of the DBF processing 524.

FIGS. 6A and 6B depict simulated results of a distributed array. The weighting in the DBF, referred to as beam weight vectors (BWV), are generated by a pattern optimization process. FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B illustrate an example of two unique radiation patterns from the same distributed array on the surface of a docking station, which is about 2″×2″× ¼″.

FIG. 6A 610 illustrates a geometry for a 1.5 GHz distributed array. The four 4 small elements 612 are printed microstrip dipoles on dielectric substrates 611 with ground planes 613. These elements 612 are oriented in various directions. The dielectric constant for the substrates is roughly 10 with a very good loss tangent. They are on a portion of a pyramid shaped structure, with tilting angles of ˜30° above the horizontal. The distances between the diagonal corners are about a quarter of wavelength in free space. As indicated, the elements on opposite sides of the pyramid are with the same polarization but are “built” in opposite directions or out of phase by 180° spatially.

The upper left panels 621 of FIG. 6B illustrates a half “donut” shaped radiation pattern from 4 element distributed array 610 controlled by a unique beam weighting vectors (BWV). The 4 components of the BWV are identical. As a result, the received signals from the 4 antenna elements are added in phase. The low left panel depicts two planar cuts of the shaped radiation pattern 621, one in elevation 622 and the other in azimuth 623. The shaped beam 621 features the following unique characteristics:

-   -   (1) a “scalar” beam, independent of polarization,     -   (2) a deep null at boresight,     -   (3) omnidirectionality in azimuth, and     -   (4) “peaking” up at ˜10 degree in elevation for all azimuth         angle with gain about −5 dB.

As the spacing among the elements increases (not shown), the donut pattern will become flatter with a higher “peak” gain at lower elevation angles. When the distance between two diagonal corners increases to half a wavelength, the peak gain at ˜5° in elevation will be better (by at least 3 dB).

The upper right panel 631 of FIG. 6B illustrates another radiation patterns from the 4 element distributed array 610 controlled by a unique beam weighting vectors (BWV). The low right panel depicts two planar cuts of the shaped radiation pattern 631, one in elevation 632 and the other in azimuth 633. When the individual elements are weighted properly with a set of phase progressive weighting (0°, 90°, 180°, 270°), the corresponding beam features a RHCP receiving pattern with a peak of −3.5 dB at boresight (the direction along z-axis). The aperture efficiency for this antenna is less than 50%.

FIG. 7 700 illustrates an implementation concept of wavefront (WF) multiplexing (muxing) and demultiplexing (demuxing). There are a 4-to-4 WF muxing device 710, and a 4-to-4 WF de-muxing device 720, and 4 identical transmission lines 715 connecting the muxing and the demuxing devices. WF muxing/demuxing techniques are for signal processing utilizing multiple propagation paths. As indicated there are three independent signal streams 701, as indicated by a solid oval, a hollow oval and an oval with a number “1” in it, at the 3 or the 4 inputs of the WF muxing device 710. As a result of the WF muxing, each of the input signal streams appears in all 4 transmission lines but with different spatial (amplitudes and phase) distributions as indicated by smaller ovals 711 accordingly. The three signals streams are “multiplexed” and propagated concurrently through the 4 parallel paths. Furthermore, each of the 4 paths features an aggregated signal channel resulting from a linear combination of the three independent signal streams. These spatial distributions among the 4 propagation paths for the three signal streams are characterized mathematically as 3 orthogonal wavefronts. The spatial distributions of the three input signals 701 are indicated by the various slopes among the small solid ovals 711 a, among the small hollow ovals 711 b, and among the small ovals with 711 c. Reconstruction of the signal streams 721 via WF demuxing device 720 is possible because each wavefront is spatially orthogonal to each other.

FIG. 7A illustrates some effects of non-orthogonality among the three WFs due to unequal propagation delays among the 4 propagation paths in between a wavefront (WF) multiplexing (muxing) and demultiplexing (demuxing) processors. 4-to-4 WF muxing device 710 and 4-to-4 WF de-muxing device 720 and 4 identical transmission lines 715 connect the muxing and the demuxing devices. WF muxing/demuxing techniques are for signal processing utilizing multiple propagation paths. As indicated there are three independent signal streams 701, indicated by a solid oval, a hollow oval and an oval with a number “1” in it, at the 3 or the 4 inputs of the WF muxing device 710. As a result of the WF muxing, each of the input signal streams appears in all 4 transmission lines but with different spatial (amplitudes and phase) distributions as indicated by smaller ovals 711 accordingly. The three signals streams are “multiplexed” and propagating through the 4 parallel paths concurrently. Furthermore, each of the 4 paths features an aggregated signal channel resulting from a linear combinations of the three independent signal streams. These spatial distributions among the 4 propagation paths for the three signal streams indicated by the ovals (711 a 711 b and 711 c) are characterized mathematically as 3 orthogonal wavefronts. There are additional sections of unequal paths 715 a inserted between WF muxing and demuxing devices. As a result, the spatially wavefronts become un-orthogonal at the inputs of the WF demuxing device, the three associated 3 signals streams 721 signals cannot be “reconstructed” and “recovered” via a WF demuxing device 720 as depicted. There are leakage signals 722 among the 4 output channels.

FIG. 7B illustrates an implementation concept of a smart power amplifier module using wavefront (WF) multiplexing (muxing) and demultiplexing (demuxing). There are a 4-to-4 WF muxing device 710, and a 4-to-4 WF de-muxing device 720, a bank of 4 identical power amplifiers (PAs), and 4 identical transmission lines 715 connecting the muxing device and the PAs followed by the demuxing device 720. WF muxing/demuxing techniques for signal processing utilize multiple propagation paths. As indicated, there are three independent signal streams 701, indicated by a solid oval, a hollow oval and an oval with a number “1” in it, at the 3 or the 4 inputs of the WF muxing device 710. As a result of the WF muxing, each of the input signal streams appears in all 4 transmission lines but with different spatial (amplitudes and phase) distributions as indicated by smaller ovals accordingly. The three signals streams are “multiplexed” and propagating through the 4 parallel paths concurrently. Furthermore, each of the 4 paths features an aggregated signal channel resulting from a linear combination of the three independent signal streams. These spatial distributions among the 4 propagation paths for the three signal streams indicated by the ovals (711 a 711 b and 711 c) are characterized mathematically as 3 orthogonal wavefronts. The 4 power amplifiers (PAs) 713 provide amplifications for the 4 aggregated signal channels individually. The resulting three WFs for the amplified signals in the 4 propagation paths remain orthogonal. It is because of the spatially orthogonal wavefronts, the three associated 3 amplified signals streams 721 can be “reconstructed” and “recovered” via a WF demuxing device 720 as depicted.

Furthermore, the WF muxing processor 701 can be digitally implemented at baseband (not shown). The associated outputs of the WF muxer 710 must be converted to analogue format at a RF frequency consistent with the operation frequency band of the PAs.

FIG. 7C illustrates an implementation concept of A/D module using wavefront (WF) multiplexing (muxing) and demultiplexing (demuxing). There are a 4-to-4 WF muxing device 710, and a digital 4-to-4 WF de-muxing device 7201, a bank of 4 identical direct-conversion analogue to digital converters (A/Ds) 714, and 4 identical transmission lines 715 connecting the muxing device and the A/Ds 714 followed by the demuxing device. WF muxing/demuxing techniques are for signal processing utilizing multiple propagation paths. As indicated there are three independent signal streams 701, indicated by a solid oval, a hollow oval and an oval with a number “1” in it, at the 3 or the 4 inputs of the WF muxing device 710. As a result of the WF muxing 710, each of the input signal streams appears in all 4 transmission lines but with different spatial (amplitudes and phase) distributions, as indicated by smaller ovals accordingly. The three signals streams are “multiplexed” and propagated concurrently through the 4 parallel paths. Furthermore, each of the 4 paths features an aggregated signal channel resulting from a linear combinations of the three independent signal streams. These spatial distributions among the 4 propagation paths for the three signal streams indicated by the ovals (711 a, 711 b, and 711 c) are characterized mathematically as 3 orthogonal wavefronts. The 4 direct-conversion A/Ds 714 provide direct sampling at RF and analog to digital conversions for the 4 aggregated signal channels individually. The resulting three WFs for the digitized signals in the 4 propagation paths remain orthogonal. It is because of the spatially orthogonal wavefronts, the three associated 3 digitized signals streams 7211 can be “reconstructed” and “recovered” via a digital WF demuxing device 7201 as depicted.

Furthermore, the WF muxing processor 701 can be implemented digitally at baseband 9 not shown). The associated outputs of the WF muxer must be converted to analog format at a RF frequency consistent with the operation frequency band of the PAs.

FIG. 8 illustrates key features of Orthogonal Beams 810. There are 5 panels with vertical axes 801 indicating the antenna gains for various beams and the horizontal axes 802 the azimuth angles of a user antenna with various directions where five base stations (BS) are located. The directions for the five BSs are indicated by N4, N2, O, P2, and P4. These multiple beams from the user device are not conventional beams with “high gain and low sidelobes.” They are orthogonal beams (OBs), meaning that any of the five beams always peaks at nulls of all other beams. As the user, these five OB beams will move accordingly under the constraints that all five dynamic beams are always peaked at various desired directions while the beam-peak of a beam is always at nulls of all other 4 beams. As a result, the user device can concurrently communicate to the five BSs via the same spectrum. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A portable device for wireless communication having surfaces, the portable device comprising: an antenna array having N array elements distributed on the surfaces, the N array elements conforming to the surfaces, N being an integer greater than 1, the N array elements outputting N signals; a frontend unit coupled to the N array elements, the frontend unit receiving the N signals and generating N digital signals; a digital beam forming network coupled to the frontend unit, the digital beam forming network processing M digital signals selected from the N digital signals, M being an integer less than or equal to N, and generating K beams based on the M digital signals, K being an integer greater than 1; a controlling unit coupled to the digital beam forming network, the controlling unit computing dynamically a beam weight vector for each of the K beams based on data on orientation and position of the portable device and data on geometry of the antenna array and hub directions; a position information unit coupled to the controlling unit, the position information unit generating the data on position and orientation of the portable device; and a memory coupled to the controlling unit, the memory storing the data on geometry of the antenna array and hub directions.
 2. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the controlling unit uses at least one of the K beams for diagnostic purposes.
 3. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the frontend unit comprises: a bank of low-noise amplifiers coupled to the N array elements, the bank of low-noise amplifiers conditioning the N signals and generating N conditioned signals; a bank of bandpass filters coupled to the bank of low-noise amplifiers, the bank of bandpass filters filtering the N conditioned signals and generating N filtered signals; a bank of frequency down-converters coupled to the bank of bandpass filters, the bank of frequency down-converters down-converting the N filtered signals and generating N baseband signals; and a bank of analog-to-digital converters coupled to the bank of frequency down-converters and the digital beam forming network, the bank of analog-to-digital converters converting the N baseband signals from analog format to digital format and outputting the N digital signals.
 4. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the position information unit comprises an inertial measurement unit and a geolocation receiver.
 5. The portable device of claim 1, wherein each beam weight vector has N components associated with the N signals, and wherein the controlling unit selects the M signals by setting N-M components associated with N-M non-selected signals to zero in each beam weight vector.
 6. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the frontend unit comprises a switch box coupled to the N array elements and the controlling unit, the switch box selecting the M signals based on a control signal received from the controlling unit.
 7. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the frontend unit comprises: a wavefront multiplexer for performing a transform on the N signals and generating N multiplexed signals, each of the N multiplexed signals being a linear combination of the N signals; and a wavefront demultiplexer for performing a transform on the N digital signals and generating the M digital signals.
 8. The portable device of claim 7, wherein the wavefront multiplexer comprises a plurality of wavefront multiplexing processors and wherein the wavefront demultiplexer comprises a plurality of wavefront demultiplexing processors.
 9. The portable device of claim 3, wherein the frontend unit further comprises: a wavefront multiplexer coupled to the N array elements, the wavefront multiplexer performing a transform on the N signals and outputting N multiplexed signals to the bank of low-noise amplifiers, each of the N multiplexed signals being a linear combination of the N signals; and a wavefront demultiplexer coupled to the bank of analog-to-digital converters, the wavefront demultiplexer performing a transform on the N digital signals and generating the M digital signals.
 10. The portable device of claim 3, wherein the frontend unit further comprises: a wavefront multiplexer coupled to the bank of low-noise amplifiers, the wavefront multiplexer performing a transform on the N conditioned signals and outputting N multiplexed signals to the bank of bandpass filters, each of the N multiplexed signals being a linear combination of the N conditioned signals; and a wavefront demultiplexer coupled to the bank of analog-to-digital converters, the wavefront demultiplexer performing a transform on the N digital signals and generating the M digital signals.
 11. A method for wireless communication using a portable device having surfaces, the method comprising: providing an antenna array having N array elements distributed on the surfaces, the N array elements conforming to the surfaces, N being an integer greater than 1; outputting N signals from the N array elements; receiving the N signals via a frontend unit coupled to the N array elements; generating N digital signals via the frontend unit; processing M digital signals selected from the N digital signals via a digital beam forming network coupled to the frontend unit, M being an integer less than or equal to N; generating K beams based on the M digital signals via the digital beam forming network, K being an integer greater than 1; computing dynamically a beam weight vector for each of the K beams based on data on orientation and position of the portable device and data on geometry of the antenna array and hub directions via a controlling unit coupled to the digital beam forming network; generating the data on position and orientation of the portable device via a position information unit coupled to the controlling unit; and storing the data on geometry of the antenna array and hub directions via a memory coupled to the controlling unit.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein computing dynamically a beam weight vector comprises using at least one of the K beams for diagnostic purposes.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein generating N digital signals via the frontend unit comprises: conditioning the N signals and generating N conditioned signals via a bank of low-noise amplifiers coupled to the N array elements; filtering the N conditioned signals and generating N filtered signals via a bank of bandpass filters coupled to the bank of low-noise amplifiers; down-converting the N filtered signals and generating N baseband signals via a bank of frequency down-converters coupled to the bank of bandpass filters; and converting the N baseband signals from analog format to digital format and outputting the N digital signals via a bank of analog-to-digital converters coupled to the bank of frequency down-converters and the digital beam forming network.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein generating the data on position and orientation of the portable device via the position information unit comprises generating the data on position and orientation of the portable device via an inertial measurement unit and a geolocation receiver.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein each beam weight vector has N components associated with the N signals, and wherein processing M digital signals selected from the N digital signals via the digital beam forming network comprises selecting the M signals by setting N-M components associated with N-M non-selected signals to zero in each beam weight vector via the controlling unit.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein processing M digital signals selected from the N digital signals via the digital beam forming network comprises selecting the M signals based on a control signal received from the controlling unit using a switch box included in the frontend unit, the switch box being coupled to the N array elements and the controlling unit.
 17. The method of claim 11, wherein generating N digital signals via the frontend unit comprises: performing a transform on the N signals and generating N multiplexed signals via a wavefront multiplexer, each of the N multiplexed signals being a linear combination of the N signals; and performing a transform on the N digital signals and generating the M digital signals via a wavefront demultiplexer.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the wavefront multiplexer comprises a plurality of wavefront multiplexing processors and wherein the wavefront demultiplexer comprises a plurality of wavefront demultiplexing processors.
 19. The method of claim 13, wherein generating N digital signals via the frontend unit comprises: performing a transform on the N signals and outputting N multiplexed signals to the bank of low-noise amplifiers via a wavefront multiplexer coupled to the N array elements, each of the N multiplexed signals being a linear combination of the N signals; and performing a transform on the N digital signals and generating the M digital signals via a wavefront demultiplexer coupled to the bank of analog-to-digital converters.
 20. The method of claim 13, wherein generating N digital signals via the frontend unit comprises: performing a transform on the N conditioned signals and outputting N multiplexed signals to the bank of bandpass filters via a wavefront multiplexer coupled to the bank of low-noise amplifiers, each of the N multiplexed signals being a linear combination of the N conditioned signals; and performing a transform on the N digital signals and generating the M digital signals via a wavefront demultiplexer coupled to the bank of analog-to-digital converters. 